International Terrorism - Defining Terrorism

As with "national security," "terrorism" is a difficult term to define, particularly because it involves subjective social issues and relies on the unique perceptions of the definer. The saying "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" illustrates this difficulty. Most analysts find it much easier to define whether a specific act is terrorist in nature than to find a broad definition of terrorism itself.

Although many experts believe that there is generally an intuitive understanding of what constitutes terrorism, it is important for governments to define the term for the purposes of prevention and retaliation. Some definitions of "terrorism" offered by academic sources and government-policy analysts include:

• "The political use of violence or intimidation."—American Heritage Dictionary
• "The threat of violence, individual acts of violence, or a campaign of violence designed primarily to instill fear." —Brian Michael Jenkins, "International Terrorism: A New Mode of Conflict," in David Carlton and Carlo Schaerf (eds.), International Terrorism and World Security (London: Croom Helm, 1975)
• "The illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective when innocent people are targeted." —Walter Laqueur, The Age of Terrorism (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987)
• "Coercive intimidation, premeditated acts or threats of violence systemically aimed at instilling such fear in the target that it will force the target to alter its behavior in the way desired by the terrorists." —Paul Wilkinson, Technology and Terrorism (London: Frank Cass, 1993)
• "The recurrent use or threatened use of politically motivated and clandestinely organized violence, by a group whose aim is to influence a psychological target in order to make it behave in a way which the group desires." —C. J. M. Drake, Terrorist Target Selection (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998)
• "The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." —Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• "The unlawful use of—or threatened use of—force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives." —U.S. Department of Defense
• "Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience." —U.S. Department of State